Matthew O'Connell

- Author -

Bio

About Me

I’m not exactly sure when I decided to become a novelist, but I have always loved fiction. I'm sort of a plodder when it comes to reading (and writing as well). I enjoy lingering on the dialogue, the descriptions, the scene and setting. While my tastes are pretty eclectic, I am definitely drawn to books that push the limits of reality.

I recently sold the company, Select International, that I co-founded in 1993. We started the company in Guadalajara, Mexico where my wife Mari and I lived and worked for a little over two years with a wonderful group of employees. It was a phenomenal experience; we both learned not only to speak the language but also to embrace the Mexican culture and people.

In the past twenty years I’ve written over two hundred white papers, journal articles, book chapters and even a book, Hiring Great People. But writing technical papers is far removed from writing fiction. There are more constraints -- the need to backup what you write with results or references, and the format is usually clearly outlined, and frankly, somewhat rigid. Fiction, though, is truly a blank page, which is both liberating and terrifying.

Almost ten years ago I got the idea for The Painter of Time, my debut novel. Then, of course, it was just a concept that needed a lot of fleshing out. It meant a lot of research on art history and art restoration, neither of which I had any formal training or experience. But I love doing research and learning new things so it was a natural fit. What I didn’t realize is how hard it is to actually write a good novel. There’s much more involved in the actual craft of writing that I ever expected.

I recently finished my second novel, Spirit of the Fox, which takes place in Japan. It came out in both paperback and ebook formats on Amazon in October 2018. So far, it's received very positive reviews.

Mari and I split our time between Incline Village, NV (essentially Lake Tahoe) and San Diego, CA, both of which are phenomenal locations, both beautiful in their own way. We share our lives with our two dogs, and two cats.